Fallen leaves to help generate electricity for London

A west London council will have to seven weeks clearing leaves from its streets this autumn.

Westminster City Council has had to bring in additional cleaning staff to clear away 1,000 tonnes of leaves that have fallen in areas like Hyde Park, Green Park and Victoria Embankment Gardens – outside Parliament.

The leaves from the borough’s 19,000 trees are collected and used to generate enough electricity for five million hours of TV.

Every autumn, the council has to employ 11 extra cleaning staff and hire two waste trucks for several weeks to deal with the dramatic amount of leaves falling.

The leaves weigh as much as a cargo ship, or 72 Big Ben bells.

If they were not collected, they would block drains and cause flooding in Central London.

Due to the amount of pollution in Westminster the leaves are too poisonous to be used for compost.

Instead, they are taken to a power plant in South-east London and used to generate electricity for nearby homes.

The 1,000 tonnes of leaves can generate around 530,000-kilo watt-hours of electricity – enough power to boil 5.3 million kettles.

Councillor James Spencer, in charge of city management, said: “While leafy streets make our city very attractive, at this time of year a combination of falling leaves and wet weather can cause safety and drainage problems.

“That’s why we prioritise the sweeping of leaves at this time, ensuring that our road users are kept safe and our drains are kept clear.

“Our excellent street cleaning teams will collect millions of leaves over the coming weeks, all of which can be used to generate power for our homes.”